Silver Falls State Park: Wildflowers

This is the second post on our visit to the CCC- and WPA-era Silver Falls State Park just west of Salem, Oregon in the Cascade foothills bordering the eastern edge of the Willamette Valley. The prior post is of the seven waterfalls on the Trail of Ten Falls that I visited while we were there. Our mid-June timing was terrible in terms of solitude, witness many busloads of screaming children and swarms of tourists. On the other hand, it was wonderful in terms of being able to see many wildflowers in bloom, wildflowers that I used to see with some regularity when we lived in McMinnville.

The following photos are in the order taken, first in the grassy areas near the Canyon Trail trailhead, then down in the canyon on this trail. The final set of photos comes from the old growth forest along the Rim Trail. Most of the species I have documented here are common to the Willamette Valley, but do not grow in Central Oregon where we now live. These photos represent perhaps half the flowers that I saw in bloom.

Tiny English Daisies, Bellis perennis, Common Non-Native
Turf Invader in the Willamette Valley

Non-Native Hairy Cat's-Ear, Hypochaeris radicata,
Blanketed Roadsides Especially Along Detroit Lake

Ditto for Non-Native Oxeye Daisies, Leucanthemum vulgare,
All Along Valley Roadsides

Forest Specialist Baldhip or Dwarf Rose, Rosa gymnocarpa

Pacific Rhododendron, Rhododendron macrophyllum,
Blooming on Wooded Roadsides West of Santiam Pass

Rhododendron in Full Bloom

Purple Foxglove, Digitalis purpurea
Non-Native Escapee All Over Willamette Valley

Tough-Leaved Iris, Iris tenax

Small-Flowered Alumroot, Heuchera micrantha

Salal, Gaultheria shallon

Arctic Starflower, Lysimachia europaea

Herb Robert, Geranium robertianum

Oregon Sunshine, Eriophyllum lanatum
Leggier Than Central Oregon Versions That Grow in Full Sun

Rosy Plectritis, Valeriana congesta syn. Plectritis congesta

Large-flower Fairybells, Prosartes smithii

Candy Flower or Siberian Miner's Lettuce, Claytonia sibirica

Coastal Manroot, Marah oreganus
Surprised to Find it Inland at Silver Falls

Oregon Oxalis, Oxalis oregana

Roots of Douglas Fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii
and Bigleaf Maple, Acer macrophyllum

Riparian View with Lots of Moss and Ferns
I Really Miss the Sword Ferns, Polystichum munitum

Elegant Trunk of Western Red Cedar, Thuja plicata
Vast Tree, but not a True Cedar

Common Monkeyflower, Erythranthe guttata

A Bittercress, Perhaps Cardamine angulata

Pacific Ninebark, Physocarpus capitatus

Cascade Penstemon, Penstemon serrulatus
A Cascades Specialist, Rarely Found Elsewhere

Salmonberry, Rubus spectabilis

Thimbleberry, Rubus parviflorus

Gorgeous Larkspur, Delphinium sp.
I Cannot Tell One Larkspur From Another

Giant Blue-Eyed Mary, Collinsia grandiflora

Climbing out of the canyon on the Winter Falls Trail to its junction with the Rim Trail, I was amused by a pair of ravens in separate trees about 100 yards apart making a lot of noise as if they were squabbling verbally with each other. Up on the Rim Trail, the plants changed dramatically from the riparian flora of the river bottom as the trail ran through a drier old growth forest with Douglas Firs wider in diameter than the width of our car.

Loudmouthed Raven

Three-Leaved Foamflower, Tiarella trifoliata

Baneberry, Actaea rubra

Cascade Oregon Grape, Berberis nervosa
This Form Does Not Grow in Central Oregon

Fragrant Fringecup, Tellima grandiflora

Northern Inside-Out Flower, Vancouveria hexandra
A New Plant for Me